The Java language has been growing from strength to strength
since its inception in 1995. It has since proved to be both
powerful and extraordinarily easy to learn and use. This is what
makes it ideal for the beginner. With dramatic changes to the
handling of files, and the introduction of native support for XML,
Java has been updated to work faster and to be current with the
incredible rise of XML as a medium for communicating data.

This edition of the Beginning Java books outlines everything the
beginning programmer needs to know to program with the Java
programming language and the 1.4 Java Developer Kit (JDK). With the
release of JDK 1.4, programmers can look forward to the most stable
edition yet, and even better performance than was available
previously.

Over the course of the book, you will build an example
application called Sketcher — a simple drawing tool —
that teaches you how to build an interactive user interface with
Java, how to save and open files, how to use color, and how to
respond to user input.

What does this book cover?

Teaches the Java language from scratch

Object-oriented Programming in Java

Handling errors and exceptions in applications

Manipulating data and files

Concurrent programming and threads

A comprehensive introduction to Swing, the graphical user
interface API for Java

Printing in Java

An introduction to XML

Who is this book for?

Ivor's inimitable style has proved to be a hit with nearly half
a million people with its easy to learn approach and the many
useful examples. Regularly voted the most popular Java programming
book, this book teaches Java from scratch and assumes no previous
knowledge. It is also suitable for those who have got some
programming experience, especially C or C++, which will make
learning easier.